Month: January 2021

On the day the Grammy nominations were announced last year, Phoebe Bridgers was still asleep. By the time the Recording Academy had nominated her album Punisher for four awards, she was just waking up to a bombardment of text messages and missed calls. “I just woke up what,” she had tweeted in response to the exciting news.

Bridgers recently spoke to Nylon Magazine for a cover story about experiencing her breakout in quarantine. Recalling the way she found out about her Grammy nominations through other people, she noted the only thing she has in common with soon-to-be-former president Donald Trump. “When Trump was elected, he would have people every morning send him all his good press,” she told Nylon, which noted she gave a knowing eye roll. “I feel like that. I don’t have to seek out press because it’s sent to me. I don’t go to creep on comment sections and sh*t, I think it would drive me f*cking insane.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Bridgers offered some insight into the next steps of her career. The singer said it might be a while before her next album because she hasn’t been able to write music in quarantine. “I’ve written less [new music in quarantine] than you’d think,” she said. “It’s exhausting to write about what’s going on, and it’s exhausting to not write about what’s going on.”

Bridgers also noted that she’s hesitant to start touring any time soon. “The whole system is going to be so overrun with people touring,” she said. “I know by the time that I play a show, it will be safe. I will not be in the first wave of people who I’m sure are going to f*ck it up.” Bridgers added: “The Chainsmokers already did that,” referring to the massive outdoor concert they threw in July.

Punisher is out now via Dead Oceans. Get it here.

Future Islands is only about three months removed from releasing their sixth and latest album, As Long As You Are. Normally, the band would be on the road right about now touring behind their new record, but that’s not super possible at the moment. Instead, the band reports that they’re working on their next album.

Yesterday, the band shared a photo of themselves in a studio (all wearing masks) and wrote, “Back in the studio… #LP7.”

Considering that everybody is in the same room, it looks like the making of this next album will be different than that of As Long As You Are. In an interview last year, the band told Uproxx about mixing the album remotely, with William Cashion calling the situation “a blessing in disguise,” saying, “I think it just gave us a lot of space to really think about what the song needed. It wasn’t painful as we thought it was going to be. It was good. I think we realized that we could mix like that again in the future if we need to. Sam has been living in Sweden lately, so we know now that we could do the mixing process with him there if we needed to.”

The Brooklyn Nets are riding a four-game win streak, the last two of which have coincided with the addition of James Harden to the lineup as he’s off to a tremendous start to his tenure in New York. Harden and Kevin Durant seem to very much enjoy playing with one another, and the results have been undeniable, with wins over the Magic and, most impressively, the Bucks.

The big question for most when Harden was added to the Nets roster was how that would impact Kyrie Irving, as the All-Star point guard figures to move off ball much more than he’s accustomed to. That’s not to say it’s a role he can’t excel in, but it’s certainly going to be a change. Irving has missed the last seven games for the Nets while on personal leave, that included him getting a robust fine for violating the league’s COVID-19 protocols by attending a birthday party for his sister and then having to test negative numerous times to be allowed to return to the court.

He did just that on Tuesday, rejoining the team at practice for the first time in two weeks and will be making his return to game action on Wednesday night against his old team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, on Wednesday.

Irving also spoke, saying he “needed a pause” and was excited to be back with the team and was excited to play with Harden for the first time.

Kyrie didn’t elaborate much further on his leave, but it’s good news for the Nets that he’s back and seems to be in good spirits after his absence. Now, for really the first time since the very start of this season, Brooklyn can look forward to trying to establish some consistency and continuity with their full roster and try to get their three superstars on the same page.

Late Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke may very well have been on the verge of superstardom when he passed away last year. Not only did he have one of the biggest breakout singles in “Welcome To The Party,” it appears he was ready to prove himself a triple threat in the trailer for Boogie, the upcoming directorial debut of Fresh Off The Boat creator Eddie Huang. A coming-of-age drama about a Chinese high school basketball player, Boogie will showcase Pop Smoke’s acting and hoop skills as he portrays the lead character Alfred “Boogie” Chin’s bully and rival player. The trailer, released today, promises Pop Smoke’s role is much more than just a cameo.

Meanwhile, the film seems to be the debut for its star Taylor Takahashi as well as being Huang’s first feature. Boogie shares themes in common with much of Huang’s work, such as his affinity for hip-hop and Black culture as a child of Taiwanese immigrants, forming one’s own cultural identity, and being enamored with basketball, defying stereotypes of Asian-Americans. The story may be familiar to NBA fans who remember Jeremy Lin’s breakout season with the Knicks and Lin sharing similar stories in its wake.

The film will also feature another rapper with hoop skills: Dave East, who played amateur basketball with a number of future NBA players including Kevin Durant, and played at the collegiate level before dropping out and pursuing rap full-time. The trailer for Boogie also features Pop Smoke’s “Many Men” from his posthumous debut album, which samples 50 Cent‘s song of the same title from his 2003 debut. The music for the film is produced by A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad and composer Adrian Younge, who has worked extensively in hip-hop.

Boogie is scheduled for release on March 5 through Focus Features. Watch the trailer above.

In what will be the final day of President Trump’s term in office, the talking heads at Fox News are doing their best to rewrite history and position the commander-in-chief as the hardest working president in history. Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt welcomed Republican pundit Kristen Soltis Anderson on the show to discuss Joe Biden’s plan for his first 100 days in office, and talk quickly turned to Trump. Specifically, to what a go-getter the soon-to-be-former president is.

“They’ll criticize President Trump, but no one can argue he is a worker,” Earhardt gushed. “He doesn’t drink alcohol. He stays up late at night. He watches every show. He is working. He got to work immediately.” The irony in this statement is rich considering Trump has spent more days on the golf course than any president before him. (It might also be worth something to note that watching too much TV is not the shining example of productivity Earhardt seems to think it is.)

Earhardt and Anderson went on to criticize Biden’s plan to tackle immigration reform on his first day in office instead of focusing on the pandemic — again disregarding Trump’s own spectacular failure at managing the catastrophe and ignoring the work Biden and his team have already been doing to get the virus under control once he assumes the presidency. And while we could point to Trump’s uninspiring schedule for his final days in office — apparently he’s working from “early in the morning until late in the evening,” making “many calls” and taking “many meetings” — we thought we’d let Twitter drag the president for his pretty obnoxious display of senioritis on his final day on the job.

Things will eventually get better for humanity in 2021, but the time is still right to stay home as much as possible while pulling off wild social-distancing maneuvers and getting creative with masks. Fortunately, Netflix knew that we’d need more distractions to stay strong while those vaccines roll out. As a result, February’s bringing us more fresh content than people will know what to do with, and the streaming service is truly giving everyone something to bingewatch (and a lot of comedy in the process) while we cross our fingers for the final leg of the pandemic.

Plenty of original offerings are on the way, including more stand-up laughs from Tiffany Haddish and her closest funny friends. Oh, and Joe Berlinger’s hit “pause” on his Ted Bundy obsession to embroil everyone in a different true-crime saga; a horror movie will largely take place in a tent (which will make you want to never go into the wilderness again); and romcom fans of all ages can enjoy the conclusion of one of the most predictable (yet inexplicably enjoyable) franchises of all time. How romantic! Really, though, these offerings look like a blast.

Here’s everything coming to (and leaving) Netflix in February.

Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready: Season 2 (Netflix series streaming 2/2)

Netflix’s stellar run of stand-up comedy specials took a bit of a breather in late 2020, but there’s some excellent news on the horizon. In only a few short weeks, Girl’s Trip star Tiffany Haddish will return to introduce the world to more of her favorite comedians. This fresh collection of half-hour specials includes a diverse crop of comedians who are near and dear to Haddish. These players include Chaunté Wayans (Wild n’ Out), April Macie (Last Comic Standing), Tracey Ashley (The Last O.G.), Aida Rodriguez (Comedy Central’s This Week at the Comedy Cellar), Flame Monroe (Def Comedy Jam), and Marlo Williams (BET’s Comicview). This season won’t drop a moment too soon because we could really use the laughs.

Red Dot (Netflix film streaming 2/11)

This might be a cautionary tale for people who decide it’s a great idea to rekindle their marriages in the unforgiving wilderness — who knows? For sure, though, this is a claustrophobic tale about what happens when a sadistic killer points a red laser dot into Nadja and David’s tent, and that act sends them fighting for their lives. Naturally, a lot of marriage drama will happen along the way, as they attempt to save themselves in the snowy terrain. I guess couple’s counseling was a no-go, but that’s not nearly as entertaining as escaping into other people’s hell when they find themselves feeling like they’re on the other end of a video-game gun. Also, there’s a dog in this trailer, and nothing had better happen to him, or I’m gonna call for John Wick vengeance.

Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel (Netflix documentary series streaming 2/10)

The Ted Bundy-obsessed Joe Berlinger — he directed Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile starring Zac Efron as Ted Bundy and created Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes — brings us a new docuseries that tackles a new mythology. Crime Scene is actually the launch of a documentary franchise that will dive into mysteries surrounding locations where infamous crimes took place. In this first season, the Cecil Hotel in Downtown LA becomes ground central for many untimely deaths and the housing of serial killers. In particular, this series digs into the 2013 disappearance of a college student, Elisa Lam, at the notorious hotel. Internet sleuths helped to mobilize and stir up a media frenzy, and what’s even more chilling is that this is only one of the hotel’s countless sinister happenings over the years.

To All The Boys: Always And Forever (Netflix film streaming 2/12)

Noah Centineo’s reign as the Internet’s Boyfriend may be coming to an end with the conclusion of Netflix’s smash-hit, romcom trilogy. Lana Condor’s still keeping Lara Jean’s head on as tightly as possible while things get dreamier with her boyfriend, although everything could change with their oncoming plans for college. Will they both go to Stanford and keep their love alive, or will Lara Jean depart school in New York City? Long distance love isn’t so lovely, and god only knows what else can be revealed in this film that they haven’t shown in this trailer (this franchise is a master at the art of revealing the whole movie in a few minutes), but fans will be excited to find out whether Peter and Lara Jean can actually make it beyond their idyllic high school setting.

Here’s the full list of titles coming to Netflix in February:

Avail. 2/1
The Bank Job
Beverly Hills Ninja
Eat Pray Love
Inception
Love Daily: Season 1
My Best Friend’s Wedding
My Dead Ex: Season 1
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
The Patriot
Rocks
Shutter Island
The Unsetting: Season 1
Zac and Mia: Seasons 1-2
Zathura

Avail. 2/2
Kid Cosmic
Mighty Express: Season 2
Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready: Season 2

Avail. 2/3
All My Friends Are Dead
Black Beach
Firefly Lane

Avail. 2/5
Hache: Season 2
Invisible City
The Last Paradiso
Little Big Women
Malcolm & Marie
Space Sweepers
Strip Down, Rise Up
The Yin-Yang Master: Dream Of Eternity

Avail. 2/6
The Sinner: Jamie

Avail. 2/8
iCarly: Seasons 1-2
War Dogs

Avail. 2/10
Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel
The Misadventures of Hedi and Cokeman
The World We Make

Avail. 2/11
Capitani
Layla Majnun
Middle of Nowhere
Red Dot
Squared Love

Avail. 2/12
Buried by the Bernards
Nadiya Bakes
Hate by Dani Rovira
To All The Boys: Always And Forever
Xico’s Journey

Avail. 2/13
Monsoon

Avail. 2/15
The Crew

Avail. 2/16
Animals on the Loose: A You vs. Wild Movie
Good Girls: Season 3

Avail. 2/17
Behind Her Eyes
Hello, Me!
MeatEater: Season 9 Part 2

Avail. 2/18
Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan

Avail. 2/19
I Care A Lot
Tribes of Europa

Avail. 2/20
Classmates Minus

Avail. 2/21
The Conjuring
The Conjuring 2

Avail. 2/23
Brian Regan: On The Rocks
Pelé

Avail. 2/24
Canine Intervention
Ginny & Georgia
Two Sentence Horror Stories: Season 2

Avail. 2/25
Geez & Ann
High-Rise Invasion

Avail. 2/26
Bigfoot Family
Captain Fantastic
Caught by a Wave
Crazy About Her
No Escape
Our Idiot Brother

Coming Soon
Made You Look: A True Story about Fake Art
Sisyphus
Vincenzo

Here’s the full list of titles leaving Netflix in February:

Leaving 2/4
Erased

Leaving 2/5
Lila & Eve
Woody Woodpecker

Leaving 2/7
Don’t Knock Twice
Swiped

Leaving 2/10
A Bad Moms Christmas

Leaving 2/11
The Other Guys

Leaving 2/14
Alone in Berlin
Hostiles

Leaving 2/16
Brave Miss World: Collection 1

Leaving 2/19
Bates Motel: Seasons 1-5

Leaving 2/20
A Haunted House

Leaving 2/21
Trespass Against Us

Leaving 2/24
Dolphin Tale 2

Leaving 2/26
The Frozen Ground

Leaving 2/28
A Walk to Remember
Basic Instinct
Easy A
The Gift
GoodFellas
Gran Torino
Haywire
LA 92
Little Nicky
My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Friendship Games
Retribution
Saving Mr. Banks
Sleepover

Though she has yet to put out a full-length studio album, Julia Michaels has already worked with some of today’s biggest pop stars like Selena Gomez and Niall Horan and earned an impressive three Grammy nominations. After a few fruitful years, Michaels is finally gearing up for her debut studio album. Though she has yet to reveal the album’s title, Michaels is already drumming up anticipation for the release with a show-stopping performance on Late Night With Seth Meyers.

The singer makes use of her small stage, projecting moving visuals on the screen behind her to offer a vibrant images alongside her cheerful tune. Micheals shimmies and twirls around her microphone stand while belting out lyrics about finally feeling secure in a relationship.

Michaels previously released a colorful video alongside the single, which she said took her out of her comfort zone. “A lot of my fans know me as the awkward uncoordinated girl that has too many feelings,” she had said at the time. “Well, I’m still that. But I got to shoot a music video where it was just me, in clothes that we’re so fun and way too tight and I loved every second of it! I’m still a long way from being a confident creature but I felt much closer to it when we shot this day.”

Watch Michaels’ “Lie Like This” performance on Late Night With Seth Meyers above.

Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.

Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week we got another taste of Julien Baker’s forthcoming LP, a beautiful Perfume Genius remix, and a slow-burning new track from Foo Fighters. Check out the rest of the best new indie music below.

Shame – Drunk Tank Pink

After breaking out in 2018 with their debut LP Songs Of Shame, British post-punkers Shame are back with a hard-hitting sophomore release, diving head-on into some of the most pressing topics of today. “While they haven’t deviated all that much from the first album, Shame’s sense of momentum and menace remains alluring,” wrote Steven Hyden in a recent issue of the Indie Mixtape newsletter.

Sleaford Mods – Spare Ribs

On their latest album, British duo Sleaford Mods get aggressive and confrontational. Spare Ribs is an album “for people who enjoy the sounds of decay while watching the world around them decay,” wrote Steven Hyden in a recent issue of the Indie Mixtape newsletter.

Buck Meek – Two Saviors

Even while Big Thief isn’t active, we can still look to the band’s members for a wealth of new music. Adrienne Lenker blessed us with two solo albums in 2020, and now Buck Meek is opening up 2021 with an offering of his own. Meek worked on Two Saviors with Lenker, so it definitely feels like part of the ever-growing BTEU (Big Thief Extended Universe).

Danielle Durack – No Place

We were recently asked what artist we thought should join Boygenius with Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus. After listening to No Place, we think that Danielle Durack could be a perfect fit. The album “takes inspiration from a versatile range of influences and sonic pallets, embodying everything from classic songwriters like Joni Mitchell and The Beatles to modern indie icons like Hop Along,” I wrote in a recent Indie Mixtape 20 Q&A with Durack.

Foo Fighters – “Waiting On A War”

Released as a way of celebrating Dave Grohl’s 52nd birthday, “Waiting On A War” is the most anthemic cut we’ve heard so far from the Foos forthcoming tenth studio album Medicine At Midnight. It’s “an acoustic rocker that ramps up in tempo and intensity during its last minute to explode into a sprawling catharsis,” writes Derrick Rossignol for Uproxx.

Julien Baker – “Hardline”

With her third solo album dropping in just over a month, Julien Baker has shared another taste from the effort to fully illustrate her new full-band aesthetic. “Hardline” “shows Baker taking leaps with her arrangements, working dramatic organ hits and other new-to-her sounds into the hugely climactic, sometimes post-rock-like track,” writes Derrick Rossignol for Uproxx.

Perfume Genius – “Your Body Changes Everything” (Boy Harsher Remix)

Perfume Genius is revisiting one of 2020’s finest albums with the new Immediately Remixes collection, featuring reimagined tracks from Set My Heart On Fire Immediately by the likes of Jaakko Eino Kaleivi, A.G. Cook, Jim-E Stack, Planningtorock, Jenny Hval, and more. The first glimpse at the new versions comes from Boy Harsher’s take on “Your Body Changes Everything,” a darker take on the original song which Boy Harsher says “[attempts] to honor the initial feelings of lust and desire.”

Claud – “Cuff Your Jeans”

Claud’s debut album — and the first release on Phoebe Bridgers’ new label Saddest Factory — arrives in just a few weeks. No two singles from Super Monster have sounded the same, and “Cuff Your Jeans” continues the pattern. “All elements of this song are a much needed form of rebellion against my redundant lifestyle, and my pitched down vocals in the verses — which appear in a few more places throughout Super Monster — are a way to further a more courageous and outspoken persona,” Claud revealed in a statement.

Citizen – “I Want To Kill You”

For their fourth LP, Life In Your Glass World Citizen retreated to vocalist Mat Kerekes’ garage, where he just put the finishing touches on a home studio. The band tried to get out of their comfort zone during the writing process by starting each song with a drum beat, rather than a guitar part. The resulting focus on pulsing rhythm sections is showcased perfectly in “I Want To Kill You,” which also signals a shift in Citizen’s trajectory from a post-punk band to something fresh.

Ian Sweet – “Drink The Lake”

After a string of standalone singles, Ian Sweet has announced her third album Show Me How You Disappear. Along with the announcement came “Drink The Lake,” a track that finds Sweet “realizing a new form of emotional freedom,” writes Carolyn Droke for Uproxx.

Wild Pink – “Oversharers Anonymous”

Wild Pink’s forthcoming album A Billion Little Lights is one of our early favorites of 2021, and the latest single “Oversharers Anonymous” is a pretty good indicator of exactly why. It’s a breezy, reflective track that was inspired by the work of Ken Burns and Peter Cozzens.

Sydney Sprague – “Object Permanence”

Ahead of her new album Maybe I Will See You At The End Of The World, Sydney Sprague has shared “Object Permanence,” an upbeat power pop song about settling into the separation that comes with entering a long-distance relationship and trying to find some way to get comfortable.

American Poetry Club – “Thank You x3”

After releasing three(!!) full-length albums in 2017, the members of American Poetry Club haven’t played together since May of 2019. During the worldwide lockdown, the group reconvened digitally to begin work on a new album, all while never being in the same room. “Thank You x3” is the first preview of the resulting Do You Believe In Your Heart?!?, a lo-fi about friendship and community that features group vocals reminiscent of long-lost Michigan emo band Brave Bird.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

In a perhaps over-confident move, Tiger King star Joe Exotic‘s legal team already has a limo waiting in the event that President Donald Trump pardons the controversial zoo-owner who’s currently serving a 27-year prison sentence after being convicted over a murder-for-hire plot. While there’s no guarantee that Exotic’s name will be on the list of over 100 people that Trump is planning to pardon before leaving office, his legal team is convinced that their client will be released, and they’re ready to pull out all of the stops to celebrate. In addition to the limo, Exotic’s team is ready to make sure the convicted animal abuser is looking sharp as he hits the town for… a McRib? Via Metro:

‘‘I’ve got make-up, wardrobe, the whole unit that will come up. The first thing Joe wants to do, he wants his hair done. He hasn’t had his hair done in two-and-a-half years. That’s the first order of business. Then we’ll probably go and get some pizzas, steak, maybe a McRib.’

As one last incentive for Trump, Exotic’s team says pardoning the Tiger King star will “take most of the limelight away” from Joe Biden’s inauguration. While that definitely won’t happen, it is the kind of thing that Trump would believe could happen, so well played. That being said, the confidence from Exotic’s legal team is surprising considering the star recently sued the Department of Justice back in December over claims that his pardon request was denied without being brought to Trump’s attention. So far, his legal team has offered little in the way of details on how that situation has improved to the point where they now have a limo waiting, so Exotic can get crunked on McRibs.

(Via Metro)

(Spoilers for Promising Young Woman will be found below.)

Promising Young Woman premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and ever since, there’s been a lot of talk about the ending. Well, now that the comedy-thriller, starring Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan and written and directed by Emerald Fennell, is available on video on demand, everyone can see all what the fuss was about.

Here’s the part where I am adding a second SPOILER ALERT, because Promising Young Woman is good and you should watch it: Cassie (Mulligan) is killed at a bachelor party by Al (GLOW‘s Chris Lowell), the same guy who raped her best friend in college. He didn’t face legal consequence then, and nearly gets away with murder by smothering Cassie with a pillow (with help from Schmidt from New Girl), but he’s arrested on his wedding day thanks to Cassie’s forward thinking. It’s an unpleasant ending, even if Cassie gets a small bit of revenge, but it’s the one that Fennell thought was necessary.

“I think like everyone, when I was first writing it, I expected and wanted the ending that we all expected and wanted,” the former-Killing Eve writer told Entertainment Tonight. “You’re expecting for her at any moment to get out a machete, get out a gun and do this stuff that we’re used to seeing in movies like this. But once I was there, it wasn’t possible. It wasn’t honest. Women do not resort to violence very often, if ever — that’s one of the main tropes of this genre that is subverted — so it was important to me that the moment a woman is in a room and there’s a weapon and there’s a man there, there’s really only one way.” Mulligan agreed with Fennell’s decision, adding, “I found the ending very difficult and very satisfying. It was such a brilliant ending to the film… I absolutely felt in line with Emerald that you have to tell the truth about this kind of stuff.”

Promising Young Woman would be a more emotionally satisfying movie if Cassie kills Al and lives her best life. But with that ending, it’s a tragically honest movie.

(Via ET)